In A Vase On Monday – In A Basket
As the week begins I join Cathy with In A Vase On Monday, an opportunity to share an arrangement using materials collected from the garden.
Sunday evening we had rain! Much needed, much appreciated rain. But Sunday afternoon I began today’s vase with the idea of creating a small design using bright multicolored flower clusters of Lantana camara. Given the increasingly dry conditions in the garden for the last six or seven weeks it seemed unlikely much else would be available. But I noticed some Perovskia (Russian Sage) that looked fresh, similarly Verbena bonariensis, and surprisingly, even three Iceberg roses.
In A Vase On Monday – Lantana camara
I added a few zinnias and marigolds. Soon I had collected not armloads of flowers, but certainly more than expected. It felt bounteous.
Searching around for a container I thought of simply displaying the flowers informally in a basket. The idea stuck and I chose an egg basket I had woven many years ago.
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)
Grouping them into bundles by flower type, I loosely inserted the colorful blooms into the basket, layering them to suggest they had been gathered that way. [I did not use water so after taking photographs, the flowers were unceremoniously placed in a ceramic vase where they should last for much of the week.
In A Vase On Monday
In A Vase On Monday – In A Basket
In A Vase On Monday – In A Basket
Materials
Chrysanthemum
Lantana camara (Common lantana)
Lathyrus latifolius (Perennial Sweet Pea)
Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian Sage)
Rosa ‘Iceberg’
Tagetes (Marigold)
Verbena bonariensis (Tall Verbena)
Zinnia ‘Cut and Come Again Mix’
Zinnia ‘Burpeeana Giants Mix’
Zinnia elegans ’Cactus Flower Blend’
Twin-bottom egg basket, reed and wisteria
In A Vase On Monday – In A Basket
It is always such a pleasure to put together a weekly vase and especially I like the rich colors and the spontaneity of this Monday’s display. I took additional photos outdoors in the garden and have included some of them here. If you have time, click to enlarge these images and view as a slideshow.
Thanks to Cathy for hosting and giving us a chance to express our flower arranging passion. Visit her at Rambling In The Garden to discover what she and others are placing In A Vase On Monday.
pbmGarden 
I love flowers displayed in a basket and I realise I haven’t used one this year . I must remedy that. Your flowers do look bounteous, more mid-summer than the beginning of autumn, lovely.
Thanks, I love baskets too and often carry one to the garden for collecting, but don’t often think to use them for display.
What gorgeous colours and how lovely they look in a basket. I am very impressed that you wove it yourself.
It was amazing to find as many blooms as there were today. I took a basket weaving class with a friend that was quite fun. Haven’t tried it in a long time though. It’s very hard on one’s hands.
Your basket is beautiful and I love the idea of keeping them loosely gathered in bunches.
Thanks, bundling the flowers made them much easier to work with, especially since they had varying length stems.
Very pretty, does the Lantana last as a cut flower?
I believe it will last 3-5 days, but haven’t actually used it indoors lately, so may have to update that time frame. Lantana has a pungent scent that I’m usually happier leaving outdoors for the butterflies to enjoy.
Oh how intriguing – you used wisteria as part of your weaving! The blooms look fantastic in the basket – was there not an insert you could have used to keep them there with water, even if it was just a plastic bag? The spikey zinnias are really growing on me and with the lantana they help the whole arrangement go with a real zing. You will certainly get much pleasure from this assortment and thank you for sharing it with us 🙂
Yes, wisteria was a great material for the handles, especially liked leaving the curlicues of tendrils. I didn’t take time to look for the appropriate mechanics yesterday, but yes, I think I could have used floral foam and made a stronger, lasting arrangement. I plopped them afterwards into a vase and they should hold up well.
A floral masterpiece!
Anca, thank you. I’m happy you enjoyed it.
This is gorgeous! A touch of autumnal color as we prepare to cross the equinox. I am so impressed with the basket you made. You make it look so easy, but I doubt it is!
Thanks Eliza. I found the basketmaking rather difficult but it was also very rewarding. I’m trying to brace myself for autumn.
‘Brace’ is a good word for it. (I’m more kicking and screaming… I’m trying for acceptance, but ‘brace’ might be more achievable. 😉 )
What a delightful basket of goodies.
Thanks John. It was fun to work with the basket of flowers concept.
I love the shape of that basket – I don’t think you could have found a better receptacle for this collection of flowers. It’s too bad they couldn’t stay there. You did a beautiful job in arranging the flowers by color to create a nice section of the rainbow too.
Thanks so much Kris. Basket making was fun for the few months I did it and this type was one of my favorites. I should have planned better to allow the flowers to remain, but ran out of time when I was fixing them on Sunday.
So pretty Susie! That’s a lovely idea to use a basket, and then move the flowers into water later. The colours are so vivid, almost spring-like. 🙂
Thank you Cathy. These colors are the only thing spring-like around here. Signs of autumn and shifting light are evident.
Fantastically cheerful and beautifully arranged. I love the Lantana in the mix.
Thank you. I don’t often bring Lantana indoors because it has a pungent odor, but the variations of color on each cluster of flowers are so interesting and work well with other blooms.
I really like the Lantana and Marigolds.
First year I’ve grown marigolds in ages and they were very late blooming. Nice having them headed into fall.
A tisket, a tasket…I love your little basket.
Green and yellow. I had to look it up to be sure.
Great bouquet. The colours work so well together with no single one being dominant which makes it very restful.
Thank you Malc.